Vehicle-wheel.



W. H. PAHRNEY..

VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPLIOATION FILED 00T. 5, 1910.

Patented Feb. 7, 1911.

1HE NaRRls Ps1-Ens co.. WASHINGTON. n. c.

WILLIAM H. FAHBNEY,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

VEHICLE-WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 5, 1910.

Patented Feb. '7, 1911.

serial No. 585,396.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM H. FAHR- xnr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cool( and State of illinois, hare invented a new and useful lmprorement in Vehicle-*Wheels of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in the class of vehicle-wheels in which the annular tire-portion is supported on the wheel-center through the medium of interposed springs engaged by relatirely-opposing projections alternating with each other on the center and tire to cause the springs to rcsiliently cushion the load by engagement with the springs of the projections at that part of the tread which is in contact with the road-bed.

In the accompanying' drawing, Figure l shows my improred wheel by a side View in sectional elevation; Fig. 2 is a plan View of a broken portion of th-e wheel-tread illustrating the preferred manner of providing the cushioning springs; Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on line 3, Fig. l, and Fig. #l is an enlarged section on line 4, Fig. l.

rlfhe wheel-center consists of an vannular steel band ef, or rim, on the felly 5 carried by spokes (3 radiating from a hub 7, as shown by the dotted representation in Fig. l. On opposite edges of the rim are formed teeth 8, shown in their preferred triangular shape presenting a continuous series about each edge of the rim, with coincident members on the opposite rim-edges, forming pairs, connected at their apexes by friction-rollers 9, journaled therein, each pair of the teeth and their connecting rollers thus formingl an operating projection. i

The tire l0 is an annular steel band of general U-shape in cross-section having its outer wall formed separately to be secured in place as hereinafter described, with the side walls of the tire lapping the edges of the rim. rl`he operating projections within the tire are shown to consist, each, of triangular tooth-like side-members 11 spaced apart at. uniform intervals and formed on the opposite tire-walls, with a bar l2 of triangular cross-section, forming the apex of the projection, integral with and extending from each member l1 on the permanent wall to t-he member coincident therewith on the opposite, separate wall, to meet the lastnamed member at a recess 13 therein. Through coincident holes 14 provided in the opposite tire-walls at the members 11, headed studs l5, which are preferably tubular, as shown, extend transversely of the tire and are fastened, as by screw-plugs 1G, to rigidly secure the separate wall in place. Each stud has coiled about it in successively reverse direction a series of bands 1T of spring metal to cause spring-arms 1S to extend in opposite directions from the ends of each coil and orerlap each other between the studs l5, as represented, to be engaged by the rollers 9, forming the apexes of the projections on the rim, adjacent to the tread-portion of the tire.

The projections about the tire necessarily exceed in number those on the rim, on which twelve are shown, while the number onv the tire is thirteen, though the excess may be greater, depending on the relative diameters of the rim and tire; but the relation shown will. sutlice by way of example. rFhus, in each complete revolution of the wheel-center, the tire makes twelvethirteenths of the rerolution, and the arrangement in the construction etfects compensation in the relative change in radius between them. lith the wheel rotatingl in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. l, the lowermost rimprojection there presented engages the crotch presented by the spring arms 18 at their points of crossing cach other, between a certain pair (denoted X Y in Fig. l), then lowerm-ost, of the projections on the tire; in the next complete re\f'olution of the wheelcenter that same projection thereon will similarly engage the crotch of the mutuallycrossing arms 1S between the tire-projections denoted X Z, and so on until the wheel-center has made thirteen revolutions, when the relation of parts will be again that presented. V

The bearing of the rim-projections adjacent to the tread-portion of the rim there adjacent to the springs causes the latter to carry the load on the wheel in a resilientlycushioning' manner to take up all shock and render the wheel easy-riding like a pneumatically-tired wheel, without the objections to the pneumatic tire of expense, and its tendencies to wear, blow out and puncturing.

that I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In an elastic vehiclewheel, the combination with the wheel-center, of a rim provided with a circumferential series of radial projections, an annular tire surrounding but spaced from the rim and provided with a circumferential series of inwardly-extending projections exceeding in number those on the rim, and load-carrying springs interposed between said series of projections in the space between said rim and tire and disconnected from said rim-projections, for the purpose set forth.

2. In an elastic vehicle-wheel, the combination with a wheel-center, of a rim provided with a circumferential series of radial projections, an annular tire surrounding but spaced from the rim and provided with sidewalls lapping the rim-edges, a series of inwardly-extending projections about the tire exceeding in number those on the rim, and coiled springs on the vtire-projections presenting oppositely-extending spring-arms lapping one another between said tire-projections and opposed to but disconnected from the rim-projections, for the purpose set forth.

3. In an elastic vehicle-wheel, the combination with a wheel-center, of a rim provided with a circumferential series of projections having rollers in their bearing-ends, an annular tire surrounding` but spaced from the rim and provided with a circumferential series of iuwardly-extending projections eX- ceeding in number those on the rim and having transverse studs, and a set of coiled springs on each stud presenting` oppositelyextending` spring-arms lapping one another between the studs and opposed to but disconnected from the rim-projections, for the purpose set forth.

4. in an elastic vehicle-wheel, the combination with a wheel-center, of a rim provided with a circumferential series of projections. an annular tire surrounding but spaced fronr the rim and provided with a circumferential series of inwardly-extending projections exceeding in number those on the rim and having transverse studs, and a set of springs oppositeljT coiled successively about each stud, each spring presenting oppositely-extending arms with the arms of cach set lapping those of adjacent sets and opposed to but. disconnected from the rimprojections, for the purpose set forth.

5. An elastic vehicle-wheel comprising, in combination, a wheel-center provided with a band-rim having a circumferential series of teeth formed about each edge-portion with transverse rollers connecting corresponding teeth at their apeXes, an annular tire surrounding but spaced from the rim and having side-walls lapping the rim-edges, series.

of projections consisting of tooth-like members about the tire-walls with transverse bars connecting opposite members7 said tire-projections exceeding in number those on thel rim, studs secured at their opposite ends in the tire walls at said tire-projections, aud sets of springs coiled about the studs presenting oppositely-extending spring-arms. with the arms of cach set lapping those of adjacent sets and opposed to but disconnected from the rim-projections, for the purpose set forth.

VILLASI H. FAHRNEY.

In presence of- L. Hnismin, R. Scrianriir.. 

